Adjusting device



Sept. 17, 1929. R H. LANGLEY ADJUSTING DEVICE Filed Feb. 4; 1926 mm .2. i vL/ m Z Q R Patented Sept. 17, 1929 rrso T PATENT OFFICE RALPH n. LANGLEY, or scnnnnerenv, new YOBK, 'ASS1ZGN;OR GENERAL ELEG- .TRIQ. COMPANY, a new YORK CORPORATION ADJUSTING nnvrcn Application filed February 4, 1926., Serial No. 86,063.

My invention relates adjusting devices. More particularly it rela' t'e'sjto adjusting levices adapted for use in connection with radio apparatus, and iii-particular in connection with radio apparatus of'the receiving type.

Among the objects of my invention are the following: To provide an adjustable. tuning device which is adapted to vary simultaneously or independently the resonance. char- 0 acteristics of a plurality of circuits, each over a predetermined range of frequency and to provide means whereby the device may be adjusted by handor mechanically. 4 However, the novel featuresof my invention are hereinafteranore fully set forth and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying. drawing," in which Fig. 1 1s a PQISPQCUXG' view of-a radio receiving set with my invention; Fig. 2 is'an enlarged view showing the device of Fig. 1 more-indetail; Fig. 3 is a sectional View of'the device taken along the axis of the drums, Fig. 2. t Referring more in detail to the drawing, it

will be. seen that the receiving set. Fit. '1,

7 contain, for example, the circuits and apparatus of one ofthe so-called superheterodyne receivers with condensers3, 4;, 5. The stator elements of the condensers 3 and 4 are secured to the front panel 12 of the cabinet, and the rotor elements are mounted on the shaft '6 which terminates in and is secured to the drum 7. The drum. it will be seen, is provided with a head which projects beyond the drum and forrns a flange 8, thepcriphery of which is provided with gear teeth 9. Slnlllarly, the condenser 5 has its stator clement securedt'o the front panel of the cabinet and its rotor'mounted on a shaft 10, which shaft Thisdi'um is also provided with aheadwhich extends beyond the drum, the periphery of which'extension is provided with gear teethi ject, as indicated, through the panel and.

' shown in Fig. 2.

comprises a cabinet 2, which is adapted to terminates in and is secured to the drum 11.

through slots in a plate 13, which plate is secured to the panel in any suitablevmanner about the opening in the panel; The plate,

it will beseen, is provided with two windows lhrough which the scales on the drums'may be seen and read with reference to any-suitable point, such asa stationary point located in proximity to the central point OftllB plate 13.

Just below the drums there'is secured to the panel a shelf 14 between the openingslfi' and 16 in the panel. Each end of the shelf has an ear bent at right angles to the shelf,

the right hand one of which, 17, is shown in Fig. 2. Each of these ears is providcdwith projections 18,19, 20, the purpose-of which will presently appear. the shelfthere is pivotally secured over the ear a plate, the right hand one/21 of which is The pivot 22- forplate 21 elearly appears in' the figure, while the corof the shelf 14 is not shown, but the constructionaudarrangementon both sides are-sirnilar. Theplate 21 carries a shaft- 23 which 1 extends through suitable lugs turned up from the plate, which shaft also extends through the opening 16 in the panel 12 and terminates 'in a knob 24 in front of the panel. ,The other end of this shaft terminates in a worm gear 25.wh1ch 1s adapted to engage and mesh with the teeth 13. Thearrangement of thedevice is such that a spring 29, when. the plate 21 is in the position shown in full, maintains the worm and gear in operatingengagement, and

the position of the knob 24: in such case is the pivot 22 the spring 29 is drawn over toward the, front panel during which opei' ation'it is first pressed until it reaches a lieu-- tral position with its axis crossing the axis 'of the pivot 22, after which it again begins tobxpaud and causes the worm 2 5-to be drawn out of engagement with the gear 13 and the f plate'2l to'snap against 'thelug 18, as indi- On each side of' 'respoiidin'g plate and pivot on the left hand cated by the dotted lines. It will be seen that the worm 26 corresponds with the worm 25 and is adapted to workin engagement with "the teeth 9 The shaft 27, of-course,

corresponds to the shaft 28 and the knob 28 corresponds to the knob 24;. It will be under stood that the shaft 2T-is pivoted in a manner 'similarto that described with respect to the shaft 23. If it is assumed that the worm 2G is left in engagement with the gear teeth 9 after the worm 25 is withdrawn from en-- spring is provided with a shoe 32 which is maintained pressed against the inner surface of the drum 7/ It will be seen that spring 31 is secured to the head of the drum 11 by meansof a pair of screws 33 and'3et. Any other suitable means may, of course, be substituted. The spring 31 is not directly attached to the head of the drum 11, but to a cleat 35. The provision of this cleat makes it possible to adjust the pressure between the shoe 32 and the drum 7. This is done through the medium of an adjusting screw 36 which passes through the spring 31 and isin threaded engagement with the head of the drum 11. Therefore, by turning this screw 36 the pressure'of the shoe against the drum 7 may be regulated. Therefore, the arrangement is such that by pressing the,

finger on the gear teeth 13 the drum 11 may be held. stationary while the drum 7 is being rotated through the medium of the knob 28.

It will be understood that the operation may be reversed by depressing the knob 24- and pressing the knob 28 up.' The result obtained by thus operating the knobs is that'the Worm 26 will disengage the gear teeth 9 while the worm 25 will engage the gear teeth 18. Now, by turning the knob 24,'both cylinders may be rotated through the. medium of knob 24s Similarly, by pressing'the finger on the gear teeth 9 the drum 11 may be caused to slip with respect to the drum 7. I

In case rapid and rough adjustment is desired both knobs 28 and 2 1- may be elevated therebycausing both worms 26 and 25 to disengage both drums. .Inv this condition both drums may be rotated by rotating either drum through the medium of the finger in engagement with the gear teeth 9 and Also one drum may be caused to slip with respect to the other by holding the finger on one gear and rotating the other gear.

WVith reference to the utility of such a device, it may be stated that it is very diflicult to manufacture, for example, all condensers .alike or to assemble all receiving sets exact ly alike. Therefore, it is found, as a matter of practice, that after a receiving device such as shown in the drawing is assembled if both the right and left hand condensers are set to a wave length of 700, for example, as indicated by the index upon the drums, it does not necessarily follow that the dill'erent branches of the circuits stand tuned exactly for that particular wave length. On the contrary, it is usually found necessary to recahbrate, so to speak. For example, if a partieular station X broadcasts at a frequency of 700 itmay be found necessary to mark the left hand dial with the letter X not at the 700 mark, but possibly at the 710 mark. "Uh the other hand, the right hand drum may have to be marked with the letter X, not atthe 700 mark, but at the690 mark, and in or der to obtain, the best results the left hand drum 710 mark should be brought into line with the right hand drum 690 mark and then the two drums together should be brought to the index position such'as represented by the index point 30 in Fig. 1; The two drums having been once adjusted with respect to each other, thereafter the slipping of .the drums may be found unnecessary and a rapid tuning may be obtained by hand and delicate tuning may be obtained thereafter through the medium of either of the knobs 2a and 28. It will be understood, of course, that the best relative positions of the drums with respect to each other is finally obtained by locking both worms 25 and 26 with their respective gears and adjusting through the medium of the knobs 2d and 28 rather than by hand. I

It will be seen, therefore, that the drums, their heads and shafts, may be'considered as a mechanism for making a rough-preliminary adjustment and that either drum maybe considered as means for individually adjusting each eondenser,or adjusting both condensers in common, that is, at the same time. Furthermore, the knobs 24 and 28, together withthe. supporting apparatus and worms 25 and mechanism, or each separatelyas a separate Vernier mechanlsm and that each separate Vernier mechanism may be considered .means for individually adjusting one of the condensers, or as a common means for adjust,- ing both condensers. From what has been said it will be seen that the worms 25 and 26 serve as locks forthe drums 7 and 11 inasmuch as the pitch of the worms is such that tangentially pressing on the drums will not operate to rotate the drums. Therefore, when the drums are once adjusted they can and will be held in the adjusted position by throwing the worms 25 and 26, which serve. as a Vernier drive; into engagement with the teeth 9 and 13. The method of operating the devicemay be shortly explained as follows. In order to tune in, the drums are rotated simultaneously while the worms25 and 26 are 110- 26, may be considered altogether as a Vernier out of engagement until. a station desired is best signal.- The right hand vernier will hold the condensers 8, 4, 5, which may be considcred as servingthefirst, second and third circuits respectively, in readiness for further adjustment. YVhile the right hand vernier- 1c in engagement the left hand vcr'n'ier 1S: "thrown into gear. The ad ustment is then furthercarried on untilthe' best results are obtained. .This last adjustment, which may be considered as aifectingthe loop, or first circuit, takes [place .while the adjustment of the oscillatorcircuit by the right hand verherein.

nier is maintained due to the locking action of the right hand Vernier.

WVhile I have illustrated in connection with the. drawing one embodiment of -my invention, it will be understood that, in view of the disclosure, the invention may .be varied in form without departing from the spirit thereof or from the scope of the claims contained What I claim as'new an'd desire to secure by.

- Letters Patent of the United Sta tes, is:

1. The combination with a pair of condensers of the. variable type, each comprising a stator and a rotor, each rotor being mounted ona separate shaft, of amechanism individual to 'one of said rotors for making an ad ustment of the rotor with respect to its cor- I responding stator and means for rendering said mechanism common to both rotors whereby-an adjustment maybe simultaneous-.

1y obtained between each rotor and its respective stator,,said .lastmeans comprising a friction clutch. for'llniting' the shafts of the two rotors in operative engagement.

2. In combination, a pair of condensers of the-variable type comprising eacha stator and a rotor, each rotor being mounted on a separate shaft,.a mechanism individual to.

each ofsai'd rotors for making a rough adj ust ment of the rotor' with respect to its corre .sponding stator .independently of the other rotor, a mechanism individualto eachof said rotors for making a fine adjustment of the rotor with respectto its stator independently of the other rotor, and means for making both the rough adjustment mechanism and the fine ad ustment mechamsm of either rotor cominon to both rotors whereby a rough or fine adjustmentma'ybe simultaneously made between the'rotors and their respective stators.

3. In combination, a pair of condensers of.

the variable type comprising; each 'a stator and a rotor, each rotor being mounted on a separate shaft, a mechanism individual to each of said rotors for making a rough adj ustment of the rotorwith respect to its corre-,

spending stator independently of the other rotor, a mechanism individual to each of said rotors formaking a fine adjustment of the rotorwith respect toits stator independently of the other rotor, and means for making .both the rough'adjustment mechanism and the fine adjustment mechanism of each ro- 'tor common to both rotors whereby a rough clutch for opcratively inter-linkingthc shafts of the two rotors.

i. In combination, a pair of condensers. of the variable type comprising and a rotor, each rotor being mounted on a. separate shaft, a mechanism individual to each shaft for rotating the shaft to adjust the corresponding rotor with respect to its stator, each mechanism including a driving element for rotating its shaft, means frictionally connecting said elements, and a driving means for each of said elements which means may be moved intoor out'of driving engagement therewith.

5. In combination, a pair of condensers of p the variable type comprising each a stator and a rotor, each rotor being mounted on a separate shaft, a mechanism individual to each shaft for rotating the shaft to adjust driving element and the shaft locked against rotation by either of the ad ustlng means 1n dividual to the other shaft, and means for interconnecting said shafts whereby they may be driven simultaneously by either of the driving elements when the othcr driving element is out of engagement with its shaft.

6, In combination, apair of condensers of thevariable'type comprising each a stator and a rotor, cach rotor beingmounted on a separate shaft, a mechanism individual to each'shaft for rotating the shaft to adjust the corresponding rotor with respect to its stator, saidmechanism comprising a driving element for rotating the shaft, means whereby the driving element may be individually moved each a stator out of or into driving engagement with its shaft whereby when in driving engagement the shaft may be rotated by rotating the driving element and the shaft locked against rotation by either of the adjusting 'means individual to the other shaft, and means for interconnectingsaid shafts whereby they may be driven simultaneously by either of the driving elements when the other driving element is out of engagement with its shaft, said interconnecting means comprising a friction clutch whereby the driving elements may be placed in driving engagement each with its shaft simultaneously or at different times and the shafts driven simultaneously by either or independently by both.

7. In combination, a pair of condensers of the variable type comprising each a stator and a rotor, each rotor being mounted on a separateshaft, a mechanism individual to each of said rotors for making a rough adv justment of the rotor with respect to its corresponding stator independently of the other rotor, a mechanism individual to each of said rotors for making a fine adjustment of the rotor with respect to its stator independently of the other rotor, and means for rendering both the'rough adjustment mechanism and the fine adjustment mechanism of each rotor common to both'rotors whereby a rough or fine adjustment may be simultaneouslymade v of the two rotors, said driving elements being between both the rotors and their respective stators, said last means comprising a friction clutch for operativelyinterlinking the shafts each in the form of a gear and each shaft being provided with a corresponding gear, the driving engagement between the driving element and the shaft being. maintained through such gears. w

8. 'In combination, a pair of condensers, each having a rotor element and a stator ele ment, means individual to each condenser for making a rough adjustment and means indi- Ividual to each condenser and cooperating each With one of said first named means for making a fine adjustment, friction clutch means between said first named means for making the vindividual fine and rough adjustment means of either condenser common to the two condensers, and means for throwing either of the fine adjustment means into or out of engagement with the condensers.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2nd day of February, 1926..

- RALPH HJLANGLEY. 

